I hate snakes. OK, well I don’t really hate any living thing, but snakes freak me out. That said, I’ve had my share of close encounters with them in making pictures – even getting brave enough to stand over a mojave green rattlesnake once with my 100mm macro on a tripod to photograph it’s beautiful pattern!
The snake charmers in Marrakech, Morocco put on a performance using cobras, and whatever other snakes they use – I don’t really want to know! The wrap them around their necks, put them close to their faces, and do weird things. I photographed that too, as you can see by this one picture, but when it was all done, and the guy was just holding the snake at his side like it was a rope, I saw a picture I wanted – the simple scene, uncluttered from the square’s busy background – only his jelaba, hand and the snake. When the snake saw me – it stared at me – which sort of gave me the willies but I persevered. Somehow, the camera/lens serve as a barrier to the reality of the scene – when I’m looking through the lens. I momentarily forget my fears.
As amazing as these creatures are, I would never get that close to a cobra or the like. Very nice shots, Brenda.
Hi, Brenda
For me it is spiders. I’ve often wondered whether trying to photograph spiders would help me overcome the horror I feel, but to date, I have not been as brave as you. I did try it with a plastic Halloween spider once…not fun even then.
You speak to the deeper truth about photography, I think. Whether it is TTL, or in the post-production, a photograph allows us to detach our minds and our hearts from our “normal reality” and just see. Whether the photo shows man’s inhumanity to man, a new baby’s sweet lips, or those things that give us the willies, we have the opportunity to understand the truth, or Truth, of that moment. We’re so lucky!
Well said, Karen! I agree completely. (And I’m not totally past my fear of snakes – but it has gotten better for me) Thank you for commenting.